Onderdelen

Before beginning, unplug your iMac and lay it on a soft surface as shown.

Stick a suction cup near each of the two top corners of the glass panel.

To attach the suction cups we sell, first position the suction cup with the movable handle parallel to the face of the glass panel. While lightly holding the suction cup against the glass, raise the movable handle until it is parallel with the other handle.

If your suction cups refuse to stick, try cleaning both the glass panel and the suction cup with a mild solvent.

Success replacing the stock ST31000528AS with a STBD3000100 (Dead 1TB to new 3TB, both Seagate). First try. Using another Mac and a quality Firewire 800 cable, I formatted it using Target Disk mode, 2 partitions (defaults, except I made the first one bigger than the second). To the second, smaller one, I copied a bootable Install OS X Mavericks partition. Tried to boot. It booted, and I installed; nary a glitch. (Running the Installer over Firewire would have been faster, but I didn't want to reboot this machine.)

I SKIPPED steps 6, 7 AND 8! Instead, after doing Step 5, I noticed I then had enough room and cable length to access the screws in Step 11 if I lifted the LCD up an inch or so, rotated it about 20-30 degrees clockwise and moved it a couple inches toward the base, and put it down. After removing them (Step 11), I propped up the LCD (with a spare spudger) and had enough room to do Steps 12, 13, and 14 without much difficulty. Felt safer/less work and risk than not skipping steps 6-8. No risk of the damage Ersan and Michael caused performing Step 7!

I wonder why. What's the deal, Geoff? I mean I'd understand if I suggested folks didn't need the suction cups, as that could cut into iFixit's income stream, but what's wrong with suggesting that a few steps aren't needed? It worked for me; the EMC 2389 I fixed is humming along with a new 3TB HD I installed while skipping those steps.

I did not have to remove a single cable! After undoing the torx screws from the sides, I was able to rotate the LCD out of the way enough to reach all the screws holding in the ODD bracket. One of them was a bit challenging to get to, but I never felt that I was risking the cables by leaving them connected. Also, it wasn't totally clear, but you have to actually remove the ODD itself from the ODD bracket - 4 torx screws. The SDD mounts into the hard drive enclosure, then the enclosure is screwed into the bracket. Those holes (enclosure <-> Bracket) did not line up correctly for me, and I had to go with only three of them connected in the end. Seems to work fine.

Another comment on DATA & LCD Temp. Sensor cables: I had to remove the vertical sync, and the backlight cable, however, if you have an assistant or/can carefully rotate the screen clockwise/and then have it held up about 5" to 6" at a slight angle, you do not need to remove LCD data cable or LCD thermal cable, however - IMPORTANT: you must have a second pair of hands/or way to securely prop up the LCD. Also, don't rotate too much, since then you will pull out LCD data cable, and it renders the whole exercise moot, or can damage the cable or connector.

No need for suction cups, I just stuck my nails (short like guys usually have) between the top part of the screen and body, and it came off easily. I've never done it before, so it seems to be very easy.

Just completed the replacement of the optical drive with an SSD using an OWC Data Doubler kit. Attempted to remove the optical drive without disconnecting any cables but found it a bit fiddly to orient the screen for good access. I bit the bullet and disconnected them and found the process less daunting than I imagined. Reconnecting them was similarly straightforward if you're careful.

Tip: you can skip the step for removing the optical drive thermal sensor connector from the motherboard. Still need to remove the sensor from the optical drive but you can leave that hanging and reattach it to the SSD later.

I have an odd question -- I want to remove the polarizer from the LCD. With some monitors this is trivial, others not so much. My question is whether it is bonded to the Liquid crystal, or whether it's loose, or cutting it with a razor blade would remove it. Obviously I'd like to know before I go to the trouble of dismantling the thing... Thanks. Paul

I’ve just successfully installed a 1TB SSD in place of my optical drive thanks to the information here- thank you to everyone who has contributed!

3 comments- the procedure described here seems to vary between HD replacement and dual HD/optical drive replacement. This can be confusing at times.

Expect there to be minor differences between the layout described and what you find when you open up your iMac. There are also, surprisingly, differences between the HD enclosure description, and the article provided by ifixit.

I was able to replace the DVD/HD enclosure single-handedly without fully removing the LCD, or deconnecting any of the cables (steps 5-11). It’s a bit cramped, and fiddly, but I was not happy removing any of the cables despite watching videos, etc., since they all seemed to involve applying more force than I was comfortable with. A more detailed description of how to release them might have helped, but even here, there may be minor variations even within the 2389 model.

Voeg opmerking toe

Gently lift the glass panel perpendicular to the face of the LCD enough to clear the steel mounting pins attached along the underside of the top edge of the glass panel.

Pull the glass panel away from the lower edge of the iMac and carefully set it aside.

During reinstallation, be sure to meticulously clean the inside of the glass panel and the face of the LCD as any dust or fingerprints trapped inside will be annoyingly visible when the machine is turned on.

I ran into the same problem - easily the most frustrating part of this process. To help deal with it, I took a drinking straw, cut it to be about 2 inches long, and used it as a chute to guide the screw to the hole. Dropping the screw down the straw, it'd still stick to the side due to the magnets, but using my screwdriver, it was easy to push the screw down to where it needed to go, and the straw kept the screw from being pulled out of place by the magnets.

Hmm… yes, the magnets sucks - literally. But if you use a normal screwdriver or a bit, the screwdriver tip or the bit can be “loaded” by the magnets too. Just move the screwdriver (or bit) over one of the magnets and then “plug” the screw onto the screwdriver’s tip (or bit). It will be held by magnetic force. Just enough to move the screw vertically and very slowly into the whole.

There are some special screwdriver on the market with “claws” to hold screws, but they are hard to find/to buy and expensive. I sometimes use superglue (a LITTLE) to temporary fasten the screw at the screwdrivers tip. This technique can be used with destroyed screw heads too to optimize adhesion.

You can use one hand to hold the edge up while reaching with the other hand to disconnect cables. You may want to have a prop handy (like a small book) or an extra person to hold the edge up while you disconnect cables.

Use the teardown guide for your iMac to familiarise yourself with the layout of everything before you dive in. I was able to get an idea of how much clearance there was once the display is unfixed from the frame, where the optical drive was relative to the base etc

The harddisk can be removed WITHOUT the next steps. The opening angle of the partially lifted LCD display gives enough room to untighten the two Torx T9 screws of the hard disk bracket, to unplug the two SATA connectors and to carefully lift out the harddisk. There is absolutely no need to dismantle the whole thing.

All you need is a screwdriver which fits into the room. I’ve used the “Pro Tech Toolkit” from iFixit. The screwdriver with Torx T9 bit fits perfectly.

The other “tool” you need is either someone who holds the LCD plate or the inner leftover of a kitchenroll, a scrunched paper, a small towel or similar which has to be stuffed between the logic boards and the LCD plate to keep the LCD at its lifted place (careful! don’t unplug any of the cables).

I’ve opened and changed the harddisks of those 21,5 iMacs a dozen times with the help of the “Pro Tech Toolkit” and a kitchen roll.

I really wish that the fagility of this connector was mentioned in Step 10 or 11.. When i rotated the screen on step 11.. It pulled this connector out and now I can't get it back in.. I hate computers.. HA!

Voeg opmerking toe

I have already installed the second SSD drive, but due to the size of the drive I need to change it with another SSHD 1 TB drive. Am I right that I have to follow the instructions up to Step 18? Because The SSD is already behind the optical drive, so what I need to do is remove it and install the new SSHD drive and put everything back again. Please confirm.